FEELIN’ HOT, HOT, HOT
This Durban North home cleverly combines earthy textures with touches of glamour to put a brand new spin on the art of cool beachfront living
N EIL Roake’s creative credentials and myriad business successes are the stuff of legend — not just in his home town of Durban but countrywide.
He’s an acclaimed creative director, retailer, recipe book author, restaurateur and hotel owner — and now, along with his business partner Jan Botha at Botha + Roake, is turning his attention to interior and environment solutions.
Neil’s beachfront home is the new design team’s playground and simply oozes the kind of eclectic, laid-back style that his many fans have come to admire.
Situated right on the beach in Durban North, the house is a clever combination of the conventional and the creative. Stepping through its glass front doors, it’s almost impossible to imagine that this decidedly designer space was once merely the double garage of the apartment above.
Of course there are elements of traditional beach-house chic throughout the home: touches of blue and white — and a stuffed sailfish on the living-room wall — nod to the characteristic style of beach homes the world over.
But pops of bright yellow in a pendant light and scatter cushions, concrete-coloured walls and Swiss diningroom chairs are the sort of unexpected, quirky elements that introduce the enviably effortless style evident in all of Neil and Jan’s creative endeavours. There is something here to which we relate, but plenty more that is surprising and delightful.
“Homes are incredibly private spaces. They show the unique character of the inhabitants, and showcasing them is always difficult,” says Neil as we chat over a gin and tonic one sunny Sunday afternoon. “My space offers the old and new, is a little worn but has lots of character. It’s desperately comfortable and not pretentious,” he adds.
What was the inspiration for the space, we ask Jan? “To get rid of the ugly,” he replies,